“The difference between a dream and a reality….”

I start tonight’s post by referencing a quote used in the closing remarks of my last post, which is dated March 7th. Today is July 21st. 4 1/2 months. How quickly things can change in a relatively short lapse of time.

In the time between now and then, a few non-insignificant things have transpired in my life, namely:

#1: I attended my 3rd consecutive Coachella Music Festival, which was, by no stretch of the imagination not incredible. Au contraire, it was amazing, as Coachella proves to be for all of her patrons, both those returning year over year and those who are gracing her lush green polo fields for the very first time. However, when comparing my 3rd time in Indio against my inaugural visit in 2010 and my return in 2011, I’ll admit that a bit of the magic that I was looking forward to was lost, perhaps in part because I can no longer be considered a Coachella newbie but am now a bonafide veteran. Perhaps some of the luster gets lost when one does any one thing for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc times? I don’t really know. What I do know is that I have a ticket to 2013 and I’m committed to feeling the freshness of the weekend as if I’m gazing upon the grounds and experiencing the festival for the first time. At least I’ll be keeping this top of mind this next time around, we’ll see what actually happens.

#2: I ventured off to the beaches [and humidity] in Thailand with Megan for a sunny [yet very brief] respite and in 6.5 days managed to hit up 4 cities: Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Railay and Bangkok. Don’t get me wrong, it was absolutely lovely. But could I have used a few more days lazily lounging on the sandy shores of Krabi? Yes, absolutely. Will I be back? Oh 100% I will.

#3: I completed my 2nd AIDS LifeCycle ride, traversing the 545mi between San Francisco and Los Angeles on my bike in 7 days — and promptly signed up to do it all over again upon successfully crossing the finish line. Am I nuts? Yes. Team Mary was back in full force, this year showing up at opening ceremonies as more than double our size from last year and I have every confidence in the world that our return in 2013 will be just as amazing if not moreso [if that’s even possible]. All I can say is that it’s 11 months away and I can’t wait.

….and probably most paramount…

#4: A week ago today I left my job at FreeWheel and have temporarily relocated to Florence, Italy. You heard me correctly. I left my job and promptly left the country, taking up residence in a cute little flat in the heart of Florence’s Santa Croce neighborhood alongside of my best friend, Megan Gordon. We’re doing something we’ve always wanted to do. That is, we’re living abroad, taking a bit of a sabbatical from our 9-to-5 gigs in the states and are just… being. Living. Traveling. Relaxing. Savoring all of life’s small treats. Not living on a timetable. Not setting an alarm. Finishing books we’ve been meaning to read for ages. See places we’ve never been to but have always wanted to visit. Drinking great wine. Making conversation with strangers. It’s fabulous. We arrived on Tuesday, July 17th and don’t have plans to return to San Francisco until mid-August [though that’s still up in the air at this point]. This is completely unchartered territory for the both of us, but we figure why not? You’re given one life to live so why not make the most of it?

Which is why I started tonight’s post by referencing a quote from the video I posted of Boey where he states, “the difference between a dream and a reality is just doing it. Don’t wait. Just go for it.”

So, that’s what we’re doing. We’re going for it. More posts will soon follow, but so far, so good! Life in Italia is wonderful, relaxing, beautiful. In fact, at 5 days in, it’s challenging to think of what life will be like once we return to the states.